From The Newsroom: The Fayetteville Observer

"I was only in the military six months when the disaster happened," recalled Richard Clapp. He was 19 years old on March 23, 1994, fresh out of basic training and jump school. He'd been at Fort Bragg just three weeks. That afternoon he stood on Green Ramp waiting to make his first official jump with the 82nd Airborne.  

He never got the chance. Instead, he lived through the Green Ramp disaster, one of the U.S. military's worst peacetime accidents.

A transport plane collided in mid-air with a fighter jet above Pope Air Force Base. The jet hit the runway and skidded into another plane, sending a giant fireball rolling over the 500 Fort Bragg paratroopers preparing for training jumps. 

Twenty-four soldiers died and more than 100 were injured.  

Clapp was burned on 45 percent of his body. He underwent more than a dozen surgeries and months of physical therapy before medically retiring from the Army a few years later.  

Last year, fellow veterans offered Clapp the chance to make the jump he missed. He traveled to the National Parachute Test Center in Florida, where, after a brief refresher course, he went up in a World War II era plane to make a series of military-style slack line jumps. 

"It was amazing to jump out of an aircraft that had actually dropped paratroopers in WWII," said Clapp. "I felt exhilaration again. I felt like redemption." 

And the landing, he said, was perfect.  "Even though I hadn't done that in 20 years, itwas still there."

Yarger said she and her husband came to the hotline as peace activists, initially knowing little about military life.

"We knew of soldiers on the other side of the fence, during protests or different demonstrations we had been a part of," said Yarger. "So this work just gave us an incredible opportunity to actually get to know soldiers and what they go through, to hear their stories and to have a personal relationship with them. On that level this work has been extremely rewarding." 

Along with other hotline workers, the couple fields calls from all over the world. Some come from service members who have had a change of heart and find themselves morally opposed to war. Yarger and Woolford coach them through the lengthy process of gaining an honorable discharge from the military. 

"We don't always win," said Woolford. "And that's hard in cases where I think we're completely right, so sometimes it does feel just heartbreaking."

The most fulfilling part of their work, he said, is helping soldiers find their voice.

"A lot of people think they're stuck in a situation and just don't realize the options they have."

When Tom McCollum transitioned from the 82nd Airborne to Special Forces, he knew the training would be tough.

The Special Forces Qualification Course, or Q Course, can take up to two years to complete, depending on a soldier's area of expertise. As a former company commander with ample leadership experience, McCollum was ready for the challenge. Still, he found himself struggling to adapt to a new role.

"All of a sudden, I found myself in SERE school, where I was the senior ranking officer, but no matter what I said, no matter what I did, was wrong," said McCollum.

SERE school, focusing on survival, evasion, resistance and escape, teaches soldiers what to expect if they become prisoners of war. Students must try to keep their wits during grueling mock interrogations designed to test their resolve.

"I had gone from a position where people looked to me for guidance, where I was taking care of them, to people looking at me hoping I wouldn't say anything, said McCollum. "It was a complete shock and reversal from everything I was used to. I remember I had a hard time dealing with that."

The experience forced him to see himself in a new light. McCollum said it was the biggest mental challenge he faced in his Army career.

"I think that was a good thing. At the time I wouldn't have said that was a good thing, but it's one of those lessons that you learn that dawns on you years later."

Master Sgt. Judy Betancourt found her calling in the military.

A self-described female warrior, she’s served 24 years in the Army and has deployed overseas six times.

But the job she loves has come at a personal cost.

Her decision to remain on active duty after the birth of her son has meant months and years away from him.

“Being away from my son has definitely been a stressor,” Betancourt said.

One way she copes with that separation is to look for aspects of her own child in the young men and women who report to her.

“These soldiers are my children, and I’m their surrogate parent, and I have a responsibility not only to them, but to their own parents,” Betancourt said.

“Their parents trusted us to take care of them, so I’m going to take care of them and teach them all I know as they maneuver and go to different places in the Army.”

“That’s what has helped keep me focused on the mission and dealing with the struggles of being away from my child.”

Betancourt has come to cherish her role as a mentor to young soldiers.

“Maybe that’s my legacy in the military, ” she said.

“So, if I die, my essence, and my knowledge base, and leadership skills can be passed on to other generations of non-commissioned officers and leaders.”

Her son, Christian, now 14, is following in his mother’s footsteps, pursuing a future in the military through his high school’s Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps program.

We all know that the Academy and the public never really see eye to eye when it comes to award season, but will they surprise us this year?

The Obamas unvailed their official portraits this passed week and people had a lot of feeling about them.

Meanwhile, Black Panther comes out this weekend and everyone already has their ticket.